Alabama Governor Kay Ivey Signs Anti-DEI Bill

Rickey Stokes

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Posted by: RStokes
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Date: Mar 22 2024 10:06 AM

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WAFF) - On Wednesday Governor Kay Ivey signed the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion bill into law.

The bill, also known as SB129, prevents public universities and government agencies from sponsoring diversity, equity and inclusion programs and designating bathrooms according to gender at birth.

The law will go into effect on October 1, 2024.

So what are the big takeaways of the law?

• State agencies, including public universities, cannot sponsor any DEI programs.


• Programs cannot pressure people to share what is deemed a “divisive concept.”Students and staff can hold DEI programs, but no state money can be used.
  
  
  
  • A “divisive concept” is categorized into the following, as stated in SB129:
    
    
    
    • any race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin is inherently superior or inferior.
    
    
    • Individuals should be discriminated against or adversely treated because of their race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin.
    
    
    • The moral character of an individual is determined by his or her race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin.
    
    
    • By an individual’s race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin, the individual is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or subconsciously.
    
    
    • That individuals, by virtue of race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin, are inherently responsible for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin.
    
    
    • Fault, blame, or bias should be assigned to members of a race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin, on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin.
    
    
    • Any individual should accept, acknowledge, affirm, or assent to a sense of guilt, complicity, or a need to apologize on the basis of his or her race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, or national origin.
    
    
    • The meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or sexist.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  




• Public institution bathrooms must be classified “on the basis of biological sex.”
  
  
  
  • Alabama law defines biological sex as “the physical condition of being male or female, as stated on the individual’s original birth certificate.”
  
  
  
  


• Conditional enrollment “solely on the basis of race or color” is not allowed.This law does not stop any teaching that needs to be done to get credits or stop “the teaching of topics or historical events in a historically accurate context.”
  
  
  
  • Universities are still allowed to “engage in recruiting and outreach programs” without
  
  
  
  

Gov. Ivey released the following statement on signing the bill into law:

“My Administration has and will continue to value Alabama’s rich diversity, however, I refuse to allow a few bad actors on college campuses – or wherever else for that matter – to go under the acronym of DEI, using taxpayer funds, to push their liberal political movement counter to what the majority of Alabamians believe. We have already taken action to prevent this in our K-12 classrooms, and I am pleased to sign SB129 to protect our college campuses. Supporting academic freedom, embracing diversity of cultures and backgrounds and treating people fairly are all key components of what we believe in Alabama, and I am more than confident that will continue.” – Governor Kay Ivey

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